If you're a student at a Caribbean medical school, you face some unique challenges. It's often easier to get into these schools than to get into a US med school. However, it can be more difficult to graduate and more difficult to establish yourself as a physician.
One particular problem for Caribbean med students is clinical rotations.
Caribbean medical schools aren't generally associated with local teaching hospitals. As a result, you'll likely have to move to the States or Canada to actually complete your training. Adjusting to life in a new location won't be your only problem either. You'll be trying to coordinate your clinical hours—assignments, grades, evaluations—with your school back in the islands. You may also come across supervisors who have a prejudice against Caribbean Schools. They may give you fewer opportunities than other students, or they may be more likely to dismiss your diagnoses.
How do you protect yourself from this kind of treatment? You make sure you know everything about how clinical rotations work in your program, including what can go wrong and how to defend yourself if you should make a mistake. And, you make sure you have Joseph D. Lento and his Education Law Team on your side. You should never just accept unfair treatment from your medical school, but it's not always easy to challenge supervisors and administrators, and it's always best to have help on your side when you do.
What Are Clinical Rotations?
Let's start by talking about just what clinical rotations are. If you're new to medical school, these still probably lie in your future since they're usually reserved for the last two years of your program.
Clinical rotations represent an important middle stage of your medical career. During the first years of medical school, you typically focus on classroom studies—mastering anatomy, exploring the history of medicine, considering medical theories, and learning practical pharmacology. It is during the last two years that you finally get some direct concrete experience in medicine, putting what you've learned into practice.
For example, at St. George University Medical School, you take five terms of courses spread out over two years. Then you complete 80 hours of clinical training, including 42 in core specialties and another 28 in family medicine and electives.
This is your chance to learn basic medical techniques and to work on your diagnostic skills. Yet, because you are not in charge of patients but rather working as part of a team under an actual physician, there's no danger that you could make a serious mistake that might do harm to someone. During this time, you'll also be exposed to different medical specialties, which should help you make up your mind about what career path you'd ultimately like to take.
Clinical rotations are also your first chance to interact with patients, and this can sometimes be a source of problems and even “misconduct.” Beyond testing what you know, clinical rotations give supervisors a chance to watch and evaluate your professionalism. How you treat patients, colleagues, and other healthcare professionals you interact with can make a big difference in your success or failure in medical school. Come to work hungover or make an inappropriate comment, and your entire career could be in jeopardy.
For the most part, your work during clinical rotations is under a supervisor, usually a fully-qualified doctor. Keep in mind that this person not only determines your day-to-day activities but also evaluates your work and helps makes decisions about your future in your medical program. As a result, they have a great deal of power and authority to determine your fate.
One note: you'll almost certainly be conducting your clinical rotations in the US or Canada since most Caribbean medical schools are attached to teaching hospitals in those countries. Trinity School of Medicine, for instance, works with a program in Warner Robins, Georgia. You'll want to pay particular attention to how your supervisors in these locations treat you. US physicians and administrators can sometimes be prejudiced against Caribbean students and treat them differently than others on the rotation. You always have the right to fair and equal treatment. Joseph D. Lento and his Education Law Team can make sure you receive it.
What Happens When You Make a Mistake?
Notice that we're using the word “when” here and not “if” here. The fact is, you're going to make mistakes during clinical rotations. You're a student, and it's sort of your job to make mistakes. That's part of the learning process.
Most attending physicians understand this, and they use mistakes as teaching opportunities. However, you may come across supervisors who view your mistakes as a chance to thin out the ranks of their students. They may hold you accountable for even the smallest error and may take punitive action, such as removing you from the rotation or suggesting you be dismissed from the program altogether.
Even when the situation isn't this extreme, you can still face problems for mistakes you make during rotations. If your attending physicians don't know you well, for example, you could find it difficult to get a strong recommendation. You could find that those small mistakes that you made as part of the learning process wind up in your letters, and that can cost you opportunities when it comes to matching time.
You don't have to accept unfair treatment. If you're dealing with a negative evaluation or a far worse sanction like expulsion, you have the right to challenge your instructors. Your school has a committee whose job is to mediate disputes. Usually, that committee is made up of faculty, administrators, other staff, and other med students. You are entitled to due process protections, such as the right to present evidence and call witnesses, especially in cases where your future in the program may be on the line.
At most schools, these due process protections will also include the right to an attorney, someone to advise you at any hearings or other official meetings. Even if your school doesn't give you this right, though, it is still crucial to contact Joseph D. Lento and his Education Law Team at the earliest sign of trouble. They can help you better understand the judicial system at your school; they can work with you to come up with a defense strategy; they can assist you in collecting evidence, developing a list of witnesses, and crafting a strong presentation.
Fighting for Your Future
You've invested an enormous amount of time and energy in getting to this point. Don't let anything keep you from making it to the end. If you're facing disciplinary issues because of clinical rotations or any other aspect of medical school, take it seriously, act quickly, and make sure you have the very best help and support you can find.
The Lento Law Firm was built on helping students just like you defend themselves. Joseph D. Lento and his Education Law Team know that mistakes happen. They know that med schools don't always treat students as fairly as they should. Whatever your situation, they are on your side and ready to do whatever it takes to ensure you get the very best possible resolution to your case.
To find out more about exactly what Joseph D. Lento and his Team can do for you, contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888-555-3686, or use our automated online form.
